I got an 87 firebird from a friend today. It was sitting in the woods for a good 8 - 9 years probably. Had to clear alot of wild life out and toe the thing across the street to my house. The car is alittle more banged up than i thought at first. The passenger side light is messed up, about 3 noticeable good dents in the body, 2-3 good sized scratches and the paint is just giving way to nature. Now what caused its initial downfall i don't know. The owner said the engine seized up, someone else who knew the cars past i guess said the tranny went... I can't wait to start tearing it apart, it needs serious cleaning, i feel i need a hazmat suit before i go near it again. In the process of moving it with my uncle's truck, the driver side t top got destroyed. Friend helping me move it ran it over with his car. In addition to finding out a bunch of information on this car, what to do to it, any help, tips, other websites or advice i need a new t top now, but that isn't a priority now at all for it.

holly **** man that was really buried underthere huh? how much did you pick it up for ? v6 v8? info?

Welcome to TGO!!! It looks like you've got a big project ahead of you. I can only imagine what the interior must look like. Make sure you check it out really good to make sure it's really worth restoring. If it's really rough you may be better off starting with something else. Good luck with it!!!

If you need any parts be sure to check us out.

Good god, this reminds me of a Jeff Foxworthy joke....If you're mowin your lawn and you find a car...

wow

I picked it up for free. I knew it was there for awhile and finally just asked if i could have it. 99% sure it's a v6, i counted 3 spark plug wires when i had the hood open for a brief time, got my hopes up though when i saw it had a dual outlet exhaust, i know that isn't a good way to go about it but it's still what you think when you see two.

Tomorrow i plan on cleaning it so i can start tearing it apart, the interior is.. lets say i have to go check how the fumigation went after i'm done this post. I'll upload more pictures when i have it tore apart and assess it's over all state. Thanks for the website.

I'm pretty sure that's a V6 unless it was changed, it may even have the standard gauge cluster with the "idiot lights". My sister had a bright red '86 with those same rally wheels, you don't see those very often anymore.

What are your plans for the car?

My plan for the car is to get it running, that would be great. The body is more damaged than i first thought, didn't know it had a single dent on it... i would hate for nothing to come of this besides a good laugh from my friends, it might be a case of biting of more than you can chew, but i still dont know it's mechanical state, if it needs new motor, tranny or both. My plan is for myself along with my girl friends dad who wants to help, is get it drivable. (and get $5 from my neighbor who thinks it'll never live again)

Clean it up and throw some detailed pics up. We can start you in the right direction, or at worst tell you to take it out back and shoot it!

it's good side? Dented fender and door panel.




bad side, fender is damaged good, cracked bumper, tire wont take air, messed up headlight.




it's a v6, automatic. (was able to turn the engine by hand but stopped after about 40 degrees of turning, didn't have a breaker bar)






bad side, close up.

continued...

the *** and whole rear of the car is good. Bumper cracked slightly.

not bad at all man the front fenders are a pretty easy fix to replace the rear 1/4 are the problem so thats some good luck there. keep us up to date.

Good luck with the project...that first picture reminded me of "Life After People." LOL

Hey can't beat free.Would be cool if you could resurrect that bad boy.

Oh god t-tops. Time to rip up the carpet and see how bad the floors are. If solid, good score, post more pics. If not, good parts car!

Win/Win

Looks like a really solid foundation man

So, what is your budget and level of skill? I don't see anything that would scare me. The only aspect is that with it being a V6 and auto combo, if you are planning on fixing it and selling it at some point there is not much of a market.

So, as Derth said, maybe part it out. For me, I cringe every time I go through the wreckers and see a car that I figured could have been saved. I guess that's where the difference between interest and passion lies.

got her running, might of spun a bearing in the process though so it very well may be a part car. My goal was to restore this for myself not to turn around and sell it. The budget is/was what ever extra money came around for me to put into it, i wanted something to spend a good amount of time on so that isn't a problem for me. I wanted to concentrate more on the body and interior than engine work/ rebuild.

That being said with it being a 2.8l v6 it's not worth the tear down if i did spin a bearing, tomorrow hopefully i'll get to spend time with it and find out what's wrong with it and decide to part it out or not. i'll get around to posting newer pictures and video of it running if i can.